The Lingering Charm of Apricot Blossoms Falling from the Branches

The story takes place in the early years of China's reform and opening up. The protagonist, Xiao Mei, unexpectedly receives a precious dowry from her grandmother: a pair of huanghuali horseshoe-back armchairs from the Ming and Qing dynasties. The chairs remind Xiao Mei of her grandmother, but what no one knows is that they also hold her grandmother's hopes and last wishes.

The chairs' value gradually becomes apparent. After the Olympics, a collecting craze takes hold and their price soars. The chairs shift from being a reminder of a loved one to a symbol of money, and become the fuse that ignites conflict between Xiao Mei and several members of her husband's family and her own. Xiao Mei stands on one side, while her eldest sister and brother-in-law, her brother and sister-in-law, and her parents stand on the other. They engage in round after round of conflict over whether to sell the chairs to solve everyone's practical problems, or to honor their grandmother's gift and never sell them, no matter what.

Meanwhile, the eldest sister and her husband get into another dispute with their parents and siblings over who gets to live in the west wing, making the story even more turbulent.

The chairs go up for auction, and the four families make up after splitting the proceeds.

The unexpected arrival of relatives from overseas stirs up another wave of trouble.

Through the family history of the chairs, the story tells of the poignant and moving love between a grandmother and grandfather that lasted for sixty years.

This work is a sequel to Love in Apricot Blossom Rouge and The Apricot Blossom Breeze Is Not Chilly Against the Face.